Chapter 38

“…..”

“…..”

Hermes froze with a bright smile.

Watching this, I silently shouted, “Nice!”

The infirmary was enveloped in silence, filled with mixed emotions.

“Hmm?”

“What is it?”

When I smiled innocently as if I knew nothing, Hermes tilted his creaking head with effort.

“So, um… Ah! You were asking where Perseus’s treasure vault is? Wow. That friend was indeed a great hero. The sword that beheaded the unfortunate Medusa…”

“Is the person who sent you quite high-ranking?”

This sly messenger god wasn’t even trying to hide it; he was just blatantly diverting the conversation.

Honestly, his reaction alone almost gave me the answer, but I decided to push a bit further.

“It seems it’s not an oath of Styx. If you were in a situation where you shouldn’t speak, you would have twisted this to make people suffer.”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

If he played such word games, it could lead to big trouble if the news reached the person later.

Moreover, his eloquence and scamming skills wouldn’t work, or even if they did, the aftermath would be unmanageable, making it impossible to even think of carrying out the plan.

“Well, um, that is…”

“It means that the matter involving me is quite critical between that person and Lord Hermes. Moreover, it has been confirmed that the person who dressed up Atalanta beautifully and gave us the mysterious elixir is the same person who sent you.”

Honestly, the matter related to Atalanta was half a gamble.

Asclepius praised the remaining few drops of the potion, calling it a magical power far beyond the level of modern medicine. Atalanta had given him the potion and brought it with her excessively beautiful, well-suited twilight-colored clothing.

After a series of such events, suddenly, the messenger of the gods ran to the infirmary—not somewhere else?

Wasn’t it too much of a coincidence?

So, with a hint of curiosity, I threw a question mixed with various hints.

As expected, this was also a bingo.

“If the person who dressed up Atalanta, the person who handed her the potion, and the person who sent you were all different, you wouldn’t be this flustered.”

If he himself had intervened or helped Atalanta, his reaction would have been different.

Perhaps he would have smirked and sarcastically said that only one answer was possible.

Wouldn’t he have tried to confound it with another bizarre riddle?

“Aha…”

“Wh-what is it again?”

“That person was watching my duel with Hercules, wasn’t he?”

In other words, their eyes might still be directed here.

That’s why Hermes couldn’t play word games, even to escape the situation.

“So, shall we summarize? You, the messenger of the gods, an eminent member of the twelve Olympian Gods, find it uncomfortable to mention this directly, and, therefore, can’t turn to riddles. If that person watched my duel with Hercules and was satisfied enough to bestow a beautiful woman and a magical elixir…”

Sometimes, it’s the simplest and most convenient to crush everything with overwhelming force.

In reality, after unifying the entire Heavenly Demon Cult under my command and starting the conquest of the Central Plains, no one dared to face me head-on. It was only natural.

But before reaching such a position, how many troublesome people did I have to face and deal with?

Especially before he became my strategist, Gwi Hyun-sa, who tested me by proposing all-night debates, and Godly Ghost, who gave me headaches with his elusive riddles among the Twelve Godly Demons.

And when I conversed with Hermes, I realized he was of the same kind as them.

People who take extreme pleasure in mocking others with riddles and tricks, in short, twisted individuals.

And the best way to deal with such individuals was to refute them using the same methods.

‘Of course, Hermes is almost completely tied up this time.’

Even if it might upset Hermes, the reason I was pushing this hard was to drive the nail in.

“…I need to change the question.”

“What?!”

Like a Buddhist koan or Socratic maieutic, I unconsciously explained and organized things to Hermes.

The answer was already clear.

‘…It’s not Zeus.’

It wasn’t Zeus.

I couldn’t be one hundred percent sure since I haven’t seen Zeus directly yet.

If Zeus were to be watching me, he wouldn’t have been so roundabout.

No matter how modern, considering the character of Zeus by 21st-century standards, he was depicted as a lecherous and somewhat lazy figure, but strictly speaking, he was a king in mythology.

The first farmer, the most powerful god who overthrew the Titan King of Time, Kronos.

Hermes was like his exclusive messenger, and Hermes was also proud to be Zeus’s herald and often accompanied Zeus on his secret missions as a close confidant.

If he had come by Zeus’s command, he wouldn’t have felt so awkward around me in the beginning.

He would have proudly announced from the start that he came by Zeus’s order.

Moreover, would that notorious womanizer send a gentle girl like Atalanta to me?

The story of a sex maniac shaving his head and becoming a monk would be more believable.

Then, could it be another god from Olympus?

That, too, was definitely not the case.

The opponent was the legendary thief god, who, as soon as he could walk, completely raided the ranch of Apollo, the sun god, and erased all evidence.

Even though he was one of the twelve gods of Olympus, it made no sense for him to be this uncomfortable.

Considering that even Ares or Poseidon, with whom I’d built some rapport, or Artemis, who had a life-or-death relationship with me, wouldn’t ask this busy messenger god to come personally, it was a perplexing situation.

Then, there was only one god left.

“The Queen of the Gods, the Mistress of Olympus, the third daughter of Kronos.”

“Hiccup! Hiccup! Hiccup!”

Every time I recited the nickname of the goddess who was watching me with about 50% certainty, the curly-haired god’s body jolted with hiccups.

Indeed, for an office worker, nothing would be scarier than the chairman’s wife.

“…I guess I don’t need to hear the answer.”

As I chuckled at the rare sight of the noble god hiccupping, Hermes quickly snapped back to his senses and grabbed his head.

“Th-Th-Th-This i-i-i-s…! M-M-M-Me! For my reputation as the trickster of Olympus to be so overshadowed like this!”

Honestly, Hermes was at a severe disadvantage in this debate(?)

He had been struck from an angle he hadn’t even considered, on a topic that couldn’t be easily discussed.

Of course, it was his fault for lowering his guard and allowing a pre-fire.

If it were any other typical Greek hero, maybe, but since the opponent was me, it was natural for him to be this flustered.

“Yes, that’s right! Brother Ares, Lord Poseidon! Even Lady Hera holds you in such high regard! They were so fed up with seeing me cower that they sent me directly to confront you!”

Hermes, seeming to give up, threw himself onto the bed beside him and started whining.

But without a moment to laugh at his antics, I ended up clutching my head over the fact that it had become certain.

“Hera, Lady Hera…”

In my knowledge, Zeus was the king of the gods and a philanderer.

Hera was the queen of the gods and a calamity to heroes.

If they were heroes or demigods, she was undoubtedly the number one entity to avoid since she couldn’t deal with her husband, so she would instead torment that man’s mistresses and their children.

And such a goddess was paying attention to me?

“I won’t get brutally killed later, right?”

“Brutally killed?”

“It means to die a horrible death.”

For now, considering the divine power opposite to Hercules’s and the divine weaponry, it was almost certain that I was not of Zeus’s lineage.

Moreover, seeing that she personally adorned Atalanta and sent her with the elixir praised by Asclepius, it was clear that, for some reason, the queen of the gods was showing favor towards me.

However, considering that the favor of the gods in this mythical world generally led to rather unpleasant outcomes for heroes, if not for ordinary people…

The fact that the queen of the highest god showed interest in me was quite a perplexing matter.

“…What are you saying? Among the heroes these days, it’s extremely rare for someone to receive such abundant blessings from Her Majesty the Queen.”

Hermes, who had pouted and grumbled as he got up, sat back down, facing me.

“Sigh… Who would have thought you’d strike from that side? Aren’t you even curious about your own blood? Of course, I thought you’d ask about it, so I prepared a great riddle with much deliberation.”

As expected.

Hermes knew about my lineage.

However, I had just met the being who had formed my flesh.

Investigating and exploring that being itself was my training.

It was better to take a shot at the smug messenger who brought to mind these old friends and explore the unknown entity that had approached right in front of me, rather than waste this golden opportunity like cheating on an exam.

Honestly, it was a bit fun.

“Getting to know her is my little amusement and my task, you see. Moreover, a certain guardian god of beautiful travelers has left a big clue.”

“Oh…! I really underestimated you!”

Even as Hermes exaggeratedly smacked his forehead as if he had been struck, he didn’t seem genuinely upset.

“Are you not offended?”

“Huh? Me? Why would I be upset?”

At my question, Hermes shrugged his shoulders as if he found it amusing.

“Whether human, hero, or otherwise, those who grovel at the name of a god are far better. It’s much more fun to play with someone who charges in like that. In that sense, you’re really an interesting guy!”

Like a pro gamer who just narrowly lost an exciting game, Hermes was laughing heartily.

“Well, that’s a relief.”

“Yes… Her Majesty the Queen was right indeed. I was worrying for nothing.”

Hermes, nodding as if he had confirmed everything he needed to, looked somewhat refreshed.

“As you said, the queen of the gods, the goddess with beautiful eyes, has been watching over you. If you didn’t know, make sure to thank her later.”

“Of course, is there any offering she likes that might get my head cracked if I give it?”

“An offering that would get your head cracked… That’s a new expression? Interesting!”

Indeed, 21st-century Rift-style vocabulary might be a bit much for a pristine era where the worst insult was a crow taking something away.

Watching Hermes, who was excited like an elementary school kid over swear words, I decided to be a bit cautious.

“Well, let’s see… Lady Hera does not refuse any sincere offerings. However, your poems are currently in vogue on Olympus. Write one as splendid as the one you wrote for Father and offer it along with a fat cow.”

“…Poems?”

Did I ever write a poem?

As I pondered for a moment, Hermes frowned as if it were absurd.

“Why, don’t you remember the poem you offered at Ares’s temple with the wild boar and the one you offered to Father Zeus?”

“Oh! That? Why?”

When I first went to the temple of Ares, the god of war, I had such thoughts.

Though I am like this now, in my previous life, I was the Heavenly Demon of the Heavenly Demon Cult, the high priest of Asura, the god of war and combat.

The world might be different, but when going to greet the military god of this land, just tossing a sacrifice and leaving didn’t seem right.

So, I improvised using the Heavenly Demon poems and idioms I memorized long ago, and offered them with the sacrifice.

Were they trending on Olympus?

I had a feeling that something tremendous was happening somewhere I didn’t know…

“Grrrr…!”

“Oh…?”

As I was savoring a very peculiar feeling.

Hermes, with a playful look, threw another bombshell.

“How about the news that the goddess of the moon, filled with anger, ran to her brother’s temple with tears in her eyes?”

“What?!”

Damn it.

The sacrifice wasn’t the problem now.